Komododx From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1352 times:
I was reading a survivor's story who was on yesterday's TANS crash in Peru and he states he was sitting in the back of the plane when it was hit by wind shear and then just crashed. He then jumped out of the back door with his three daughters and other relatives.
Newark777 From United States, joined Dec 2004, 8796 posts, RR: 41 Reply 2, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1333 times:
It all depends. For example, the AA 757 that went off course and flew into the mountain (was that in Peru also? I forget) had only a handful of survivors, and they were all seated over the wing.
MD11LuxuryLinr From United States, joined Jul 2003, 1385 posts, RR: 26 Reply 3, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1310 times:
Well, the 'strongest' part of the aircraft is said to be over the wing. If it's a crash where the aircraft slides into something, obviously, if it's sliding directly forward, the front will absorb the impact and the rear won't. The thing is that all crashes are not similar. There is no 'safest seat'.
Caution wake turbulence, you are following a heavy jet.
Legacytravel From United States, joined Aug 2005, 850 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1283 times:
Quoting Flanker (Reply 5): Depends on the crash. But if its your time to go, then it doesn't matter.
I agree. best spot is to put youi head between yoiur legs and kiss you a-- good bye, yet at the same time pray to god for his help in the matter at hand.
Mark in MKE
FriendlySkies From United States, joined Aug 2004, 3589 posts, RR: 7 Reply 7, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1277 times:
Well, in the UA232 crash, I think almost everyone seated in the "middle" (the part over the wing) survived...almost everyone up front was killed. So for a DC-10...........
I'm a ramblin' wreck from georgia tech and a helluva engineer
GeorgiaAME From United States, joined Aug 2005, 733 posts, RR: 7 Reply 8, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1273 times:
During my FAA training, I had the "opportunity" to review several original FAA crash documents, as well as sit through a lecture on crashes. (We go through some basic training, since it is possible that we may be the only FAA reps. at the site of a crash for some time. This was true of a Southern Airways crash west of Atlanta in the late 60s or early 70s)
The best seat is in the terminal. After that, most people who walk away are sitting either at the rear of the aircraft, or over the wing. Wing seats expose you to more jet fuel, but structurally, it has better integrity and there is more "cushioning" between the ground and the seat. It is unusual for a cockpit crew to walk away from a crash. With this in mind, do a search for my posting on oven roasting bags.
"Trust, but verify!" An old Russian proverb, quoted often by a modern American hero
Zone1 From United States, joined Jan 2005, 1026 posts, RR: 6 Reply 10, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1278 times:
I don't think any seats are safer than any others unless you know what type of crash it's going to be. The DL L1011 crash in DFW saw most survivors in the back. The Ethiopian Airlines 767 water crash saw most of its survivors in the front I think.
Air NZ From New Zealand, joined Jun 2001, 227 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 1230 times:
It's just luck, if you were hit site on by another plane on a cross runway the best place to be would be on the other site of the Aircraft. As has been mentioned, depends on the type of crash.
Just hope that you never face that situation.
Also it brings to mind First and Business class. Especially First on a 747, since you don't have a cockpit infront of you.
Just wondering, on an overall view, I know the type of crash would be a factor but are you safer on the upper deck of a 747 then the lower since you are further from the ground? I guess the A380 would be the same, with it's upper deck. That is ignoring the point you then still have to evacuate the aircraft.
GeorgiaAME From United States, joined Aug 2005, 733 posts, RR: 7 Reply 12, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 1218 times:
Water crashes are exceedingly rare (not that land crashes are common). Since metal sinks, and air rises, a landing approach over water would probably be more survivable if you are in first class.
But remember, all aircraft, Boeing, Airbus, whatever, are equally capable of performing a safe a landing in water as they are in a tree.
"Trust, but verify!" An old Russian proverb, quoted often by a modern American hero
RoseFlyer From United States, joined Feb 2004, 5627 posts, RR: 27 Reply 14, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 1170 times:
Quoting S12PPL (Reply 4): If it crashes...your odds are the same wherever you sit.
Nope there are some safer seats than others. The safest seats are aisle seats within three rows of an emergency exit or seats in an exit row.
Your odds of surviving the crash are pretty much even anywhere in the plane, but a lot of people that die in plane crashes don't die because of the crash or impact, but because they cannot get out of the airplane in time. Stay near an exit and you will be safer. This has been proven. Choosing a window seat in the middle of the cabin that is no where near an exit is not the best move obviously as you might get trapped if there is a fire, smoke or panic.
[Edited 2005-08-25 03:34:36]
My job is to make it so your flight is not delayed. Come fly the friendly skies!
Komododx From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 1101 times:
Quoting Newark777 (Reply 2): It all depends. For example, the AA 757 that went off course and flew into the mountain (was that in Peru also? I forget) had only a handful of survivors, and they were all seated over the wing.
Colombia. Route MIA-CLO
Quoting Flanker (Reply 5): Depends on the crash. But if its your time to go, then it doesn't matter.
Unless you're not religious nor do you believe in destiny.
Spacecadet From United States, joined Sep 2001, 2054 posts, RR: 20 Reply 16, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 1020 times:
There was a study done a couple of years ago that did find it was statistically a bit safer to be in the back of the plane. Of course, this is no guarantee of anything, and it also does not take into account different A/C types - but if you simply go back and look at all crashes and correlate where the survivors were sitting, there is a statistically significant difference between sitting in the back and sitting anywhere else. It's not just an urban myth. ("Statistically significant" doesn't mean "big", it just means it's not due to chance. The difference is still fairly small.)
There's a reason why the FDR and CVR are back there, obviously
But seriously, it should be intuitive that an airplane is traveling forward, so the forward area of the plane will absorb the brunt of the force of most crashes. Not everything that's intuitive turns out to be true, and this is why you do studies, but in this case the intuitive is true at least to whatever small extent.
Being in the "strongest" part of the plane would not really help you in an accident - i.e. over the wings - because strength is not really what you want in a crash. What you want is something between you and the ground that can absorb the impact. For some impacts, there's just nothing that's gonna be of any help. For other impacts, having a large part of the airplane in front of you certainly does help. Being over the wings, though, which have the least amount of "give" or crumple, would probably be the *least* safe place to be in most crashes, because all of those impact forces will be transferred directly to *you*.
But these are certainly not hard and fast rules. There have even been tail-first crashes, such as the A300 accident in Nagoya in the early 90's (or was that the late 80's?).
Personally, I'd still rather not sit in the back... too much turbulence and noise.
I'm tired of being a wanna-be league bowler. I wanna be a league bowler!
This is rather long (over 500 pages), but you can just have a look at the Injury / Fatality Distribution diagram on 23 of the report (page 46 of the PDF document). It clearly shows that the 'over the wing' section was the one with most injuries. It's also interesting to notice that the fatality rate is quite high on the upper deck.
Of course this all depends of the type of accident, but still this diagram is quite interesting.
Jetdeltamsy From United States, joined Nov 2000, 2965 posts, RR: 11 Reply 18, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 994 times:
Quoting Komododx (Thread starter): This got me to wonder, would being on the back of an aircraft during a crash somehow increase the chances of surviving?
I think that statistically speaking, more people survive from the rear of an aircraft.
It all depends on how that airplane impacts the ground or water. The angle, the speed, everything.
You would be silly to always sit in the rear of an aircraft so that you would be "safer" in an accident. If you feel better doing it, go ahead. But there is no real safety in the back of a crashing aircraft.
Worked for too many airlines to list. Banktupcy after bankruptcy after bankruptcy.
Skidmarks From United Kingdom (England), joined Dec 2004, 6985 posts, RR: 69 Reply 21, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 845 times:
What a depressing thread!!!!!!!!
But, from what I've seen in the past, the back end is normally the bit most recognisable after a crash, so for my money, that's where I would rather be.
However, for preference, I'd rather not crash thank you.
Unitedgirlie From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 98 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (4 years 3 months 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 806 times:
Quoting Komododx (Reply 15): Quoting Newark777 (Reply 2):
It all depends. For example, the AA 757 that went off course and flew into the mountain (was that in Peru also? I forget) had only a handful of survivors, and they were all seated over the wing.
as I say to the passengers who start bleating on I want the rear I want the rear because it's the safest, my bog standard reply to this is yes sir because we have never actually seen a plane reverse into a mountain yet!
It's not about AIRBUS. it's not about BOEING. It's all about the beauty of FLYING.
26 Macc: I always prefer the rear, except for short haul. not so much out of crash thoughts, but I never feel good in the middle of a crowd of people. this app
27 Ari: Anybody watch the TV series "Lost"?!?!?!That shows a plane crash and it seems like the main fuselage over the wing survived the best but I'm not sure
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